Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 48:17 (New Living Translation) This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. Jehovah God, the creator and Holy One of Israel, isn’t hard to follow. Jehovah […]

[Read more →]

1 Kings 12:15 (New Living Translation) So the king paid no attention to the people… Ooooops. This (hi)story doesn’t start well. And it doesn’t end well either. The king in this verse if Rehoboam. His rival is Jeroboam. The result was the ten northern tribes breaking away from the two southern tribes. The result was centuries […]

[Read more →]

Psalm 59:11 (New Living Translation) Don’t kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons; stagger them with your power, and bring them to their knees, O Lord our shield. David is praying to God to punish the enemies of Israel. Note that David doesn’t want God to kill them enemies, but instead stagger them […]

[Read more →]

Psalm 51:8 (New English Translation) Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven! I love the words used in this translation. We don’t tend to associate forgiveness and joy these days. We more often associate forgiveness with guilt. David truly had a heart for the LORD.

[Read more →]

Nehemiah 9:36-37 (New Living Translation) 36 “So now today we are slaves in the land of plenty that you gave our ancestors for their enjoyment! We are slaves here in this good land. 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because […]

[Read more →]

1 Samuel 30:3-6 (New Living Translation) 3 When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, 4 they wept until they could weep no more. 5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured. 6 David was now […]

[Read more →]

1 Samuel 24:13 (New Living Translation) As that old proverb says, ‘From evil people come evil deeds.’ So you can be sure I will never harm you. This strikes me as a quote from the movie “Forest Gump.” That is not quite correct, but similar. If you see a person performing evil deeds, that person […]

[Read more →]

1 Samuel 23:15-18 (New Living Translation) 15 One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. 16 Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. 17 “Don’t be afraid,” Jonathan reassured him. “My […]

[Read more →]

Exodus 20:1-2 (New Living Translation) Then God gave the people all these instructions[a]: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. God’s people, the descendants of Jacob who was otherwise known as Israel, came out of the land of Egypt and were heading […]

[Read more →]

Ezekiel 29:17-21 (New Living Translation) 17 On April 26, the first day of the new year, during the twenty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: 18 “Son of man, the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought so hard against Tyre that the warriors’ heads were rubbed bare […]

[Read more →]